270 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



of caudal, its base 1.9—2.6 in head. Pelvic fins only a little shorter than pectorals, with 

 a large scaly process between them, the fins inserted under about 4th-6th dorsal ray, 

 and generally close to an eye's diameter nearer to base of caudal than to tip of mandible; 

 1.9—2.5 in head. Pectoral fins somewhat pointed, inserted about equidistant between 

 tip of mandible and base of pelvics, 1.6— 1.9 in head. 



Alimentary canal short. Stomach with a large blind sac. Pyloric coeca large, 

 about 7. Peritoneum pale, with many dark dots. 



Color. In life, faintly greenish above, with a distinct silvery lateral band. Preserved 

 specimens straw colored, the silvery band persisting. Margin of mandible brown to 

 black. Well-preserved specimens with an elongated silvery area on abdomen behind 

 pectoral fin, and a similar though smaller area behind pelvic. Scales above lateral 

 band with a brownish line on middle of exposed section, paralleling the curve of the 

 margin of the scale; dark dots also present, especially in and above upper margin of 

 silvery lateral band; two rows of dark dots on back; generally numerous dots on snout, 

 including an elongated one in front of lower half of eye; an irregular dark spot at base 

 of each anal ray, continued as a single median ventral line on caudal peduncle. 



Size. The largest example at hand, (>c^ mm (2.6 in.) TL, may be near the maximum 

 size attained. 



Spawning and Development. Nothing is known definitely concerning reproduction 

 in this species, but examples collected in 1937 at Kingston, Jamaica, during our winter 

 months, contain well-developed eggs, indicating that at least some spawning takes place 

 during that time around Jamaica. 



The smallest examples at hand, a little more than an inch (28-30 mm) TL, are 

 fully developed young adults. They differ principally from large examples from the 

 same general locality (Tortugas, Florida) in being more slender, the depth being about 

 6.4 times in SL; in the large adult this proportion varies between about 2.25—5.6. 

 However, there are large specimens in the collections studied that are just as slender 

 as the young mentioned. For further discussion of the difference in depth, see Varia- 

 tions (p. 271). 



Migration and Habitat. It seems improbable that this little fish travels long dis- 

 tances. It does occur in large compact schools that probably consist of millions of fish, 

 as observed by me at Key West, Florida, and as reported for Tortugas, Florida {4g : 

 156; 21: i). It moves about more or less like the young Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia 

 tyrannus^ without pursuing any definite course. 



Food. This species, like many other clupeoids, feeds on plankton, which it screens 

 from the water as the school girates or mills around at the surface. 



Enemies. Many large fish feed on this species. The gray snapper was mentioned 

 especially by Gudger, who said that the little fish exhibited little fear; it hovered over 

 the snapper in dense swarms but left a clear space around it approximately equal to the 

 length of the snapper {^g: 156). Whenever the snapper moved, the rather orderly school 

 broke up but soon re-formed. Longley said, "Exceedingly common at Tortugas (Fla.), 

 particularly along shore, where predacious fishes often drive them too close for safety, 



